31 August Employment News 2013

31 August Employment News 2013 , Gk Update Last Month August 2013

Pak bans voice and sms chat , messaging packages citing moral values

Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) consumer protection directorate has ordered cellular mobile operators to immediately stop all kinds of chat packages including voice and sms at any time of the day.

A statement titled ‘Directive relating to CMTOs (Cellular Mobile Telephone Operators) contrary to moral values of society”, of the PTA said a comprehensive survey had been launched by the PTA zonal offices and services division to verify implementation of a directive it had issued on November 14, 2012. 

The survey revealed that the chat packages are still in operation under different names. It noted the violation of the directive with concern.

Keeping this in mind all cellular mobile operators are directed to stop all kinds of packages voice and sms irrespective of the time of day and submit compliance by September 2, 2013 positively.

Initially the PTA had banned night packages last year but the mobile phone operators went to the Islamabad high court to oppose it. A news report said that the petition was withdrawn after the PTA submitted transcripts of conversations with “obscene” content. 

A case is also pending in the Supreme Court. 

The industry has reacted with dismay at the latest order.

NASA detect water on Moon

Using data collected by India’s Chandrayaan mission, NASA has detected magmatic water locked under the surface of the Moon.

The findings represent the first remote detection of this form of water that originates from deep within the Moon’s interior, NASA researchers said.

NASA said scientists using data from the Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) instrument aboard the Indian Space Research Organisation’s Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft, remotely detected magmatic water, or water that originates from deep within the Moon’s interior, on the lunar surface.

M3 imaged the lunar impact crater Bullialdus, which lies near the lunar equator.

Compared to its surroundings, we found that the central portion of this crater contains a significant amount of hydroxyl — a molecule consisting of one oxygen atom and one hydrogen atom — which is evidence that the rocks in this crater contain water that originated beneath the lunar surface,” Klima said.

                            

In 2009, M3 provided the first mineralogical map of the lunar surface and discovered water molecules in the polar regions of the Moon.

This water is thought to be a thin layer formed from solar wind hitting the Moon’s surface.

Bullialdus crater is in a region with an unfavourable environment for solar wind to produce significant amounts of water on the surface, NASA said.

Top legal appointment in Army quashed 

Chandigarh Bench of the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) has quashed the elevation of Brigadier T.Prashad as head of the Judge Advocate General (JAG), top appointment in the Army’s judicial and legal wing, on the ground that there were serious irregularities in the Selection Board (SB) held last August that approved the officer’s promotion to Major General.

AFT set aside the promotion board that approved Brigadier Prashad’s elevation as Major General, after it was proved that new inputs on the service record of the officer were included much after the time line given for such inclusion in selection boards.

The new input for Brigadier Prashad related to relief granted by the Ministry of Defence to his statutory complaint on adverse annual confidential reports (ACRs) of previous years that were expunged. According to rules in force, all records pertaining to the officers being considered for selection to higher ranks are frozen five days prior to the date of meeting of the SB.

Bayern`s Ribery wins UEFA best player award

Bayern Munich winger Franck Ribery won the UEFA Best Player in Europe award for 2012/13 ahead of the usual contenders Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

It was recognition for his part in Bayern`s unprecedented Champions League, Bundesliga and German Cup treble.

The Frenchman was the first player from a club other than Barcelona or Real Madrid to make the final three since the award was established by European soccer`s governing body in 2011.

Argentina`s Messi won the inaugural award followed by Spaniard Andres Iniesta, his Barcelona team mate, last year.

Messi and Real Madrid`s Portugal forward Ronaldo had also both made the last three in each of the two previous years.

United Nations Human Rights High Commissioner Navi Pillay meets President Rajapaksa

United Nations Human Rights High Commissioner Navi Pillay, who is on a weeklong visit to Sri Lanka, met President Mahinda Rajapaksa here on Friday.

According to a statement from the President’s office, Ms. Pillay is said to have “acknowledged the post-war progress in Sri Lanka”. Over the last week, she has travelled across the country, including the war-torn north, to meet civil society members, politicians and activists.

She also met senior politicians across parties, including those in the ruling coalition and the Opposition

Usain Bolt wins 100 metres in Zurich Diamond League

Olympic and world champion Usain Bolt outsprinted fellow Jamaican Nickel Ashmeade and American Justin Gatlin to win the 100 metres at the Zurich Diamond League meeting on Thursday.

Bolt, running into a slight headwind, made his customary sluggish start before accelerating away from the field to win in 9.90 seconds.

Ashmeade was second in 9.94 with former Olympic and world champion Gatlin two hundredths of a second further back. Gatlin finished second behind Bolt at this month`s Moscow world championships.

FYUP critic Nandita Narain elected DUTA president

Left-affiliated Democratic Teachers' Front (DTF) candidate Nandita Narain won the presidential elections of the Delhi University Teachers' Association.

Narain, who has been a vocal critic of the implementation of the semester system and the four-year undergraduate programme, won the elections getting 2,705 votes.

The mathematics professor of St Stephens defeated her closest competitor Ashwini Sarkar of Deshbandhu College, an AAD-INTECH candidate, by over 700 votes. Fifteen other executive council members were also elected from various teachers' groups for which 22 candidates were in fray.

The council will now choose the vice president, secretary, joint secretary and treasurer from among its members with nine votes required to win each post.

DTF, which has clinched the top post won four seats in the council, while Indian National Teachers Congress ( INTEC) and Academics for Action and Development won five and three seats respectively.

IGNOU launches online students' services

The Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) has introduced website based students' services, an official statement said Friday.

Information on admissions, re-registration details, status of re-admission, change of elective courses, address checking, credit transfer effected, study centre opted, prospectus and application forms of various programmes is uploaded on the website.

Besides, registration forms, re-admission forms, credit transfer scheme of various programmes with their respective prescribed pro forma, gazette publication by various regulatory bodies pertaining to recognition of IGNOUs degrees, diploma's have also been uploaded on the website.

Software has also been developed for change of elective course, address, regional centre and on-line transmission of data through the regional data transfer system.

IGNOU is the world's largest open university system, with a pan-India and international reach. 

It allows flexible entry qualifications, and a wide range of academic programmes, at an affordable cost.

Irish poet Seamus Heaney passes away

Seamus Heaney, acclaimed by many as the best Irish poet since Yeats, has died aged 74. Heaney was born near Toomebridge, Northern Ireland, but as a child moved to Bellaghy. 

He was a teacher and then had a distinguished career in poetry. He won the Nobel prize for literature in 1995. 

Heaney had been awarded numerous prizes and received many honours for his work. 

He recently suffered from ill health.

In 2011, Heaney donated a collection of his literary papers to the National Library of Ireland.